A Taste of Van Houten

My big dreams of blogging about how profound the Craft Brewers Conference was for us and all the amazing conversations we had with our new and old friends... Let's just say for now that it was life affirming. The work of making whole beer and weaving community feels important, historical, and borders on the mystic.

The conference opening night was at the Academy of Sciences where we drank with the fishes and it was glorious. Someone got a nice photo of me (Creek) and Johnny with our friend, Brian from bayareacraftbeer.com


Well, that energy got diverted into planning our June 2011 West Coast Brewery tour (more later) and getting ready for our May 14th tasting event - our own homage to American Craft Beer Week. Space is limited, but anyone in the Bay Area can email us to see if there is space left at vanhoutenbrewing(at)gmail(dot)com

We'll have 5 of Johnny's homebrews on tap at the tasting: California Common, Northern English Brown, Belgian Golden, Belgian Dubbel and American Amber Ale. The garden is looking beautiful and it's time to celebrate spring.

But first things first -
I just finished the coaster design, and approved the proof for our first run.


See you May 14th!

Find us on twitter at vanhoutenbrewco
Find us on facebook at www.facebook.com/vanhoutenbrewing
Contact us at vanhoutenbrewing(at)gmail(dot)com

Van Houten Brewing Co's First Public Pour

During to a few fortunate run-ins with Richard of Elizabeth Street Brewery at City Beer and Mill Valley Beer Works, we were invited to pour at his annual Super Bowl party. We felt honored to pour alongside Elizabeth Street Brewery and Pacific Brewing Laboratory.


Johnny brought his Northern English Brown Ale and his California Common and folks seemed to really enjoy. It is good to get good feedback from lots of people you don't know. Our banner also got its first use, and a christening of beer spills from happy homebrew drinkers.


The people who have gathered around the phenomenon that is Elizabeth Street Brewing is amazing. Neighbors who donated chairs for the day. Friendly strangers who read about Richard on the internet or twitter. Old friends and colleagues from the beer world and every sort of connection. The folks at Smoke BBQ SF donated ribs, and the potluck delicacies were nearly endless.

And the place is amazing. Richard's clever wife Alyson set up a "While you were out" home installation reality tv show extravaganza a few years back and they came and set up a mini home pub - the home brewers dream.


Alyson made this beer bottle mosaic window, which is awesome.


It was definitely a highlight of the year for us - but we suspect the SF Beerweek Nanobrewery Festival at the Social Kitchen will also be pretty fabulous. Hope to see folks on Sunday at the Social Kitchen.

Breweries of Tomorrow Nanobrewery Festival

February 13 from 5:00 pm - 9:00 pm

at the Social Kitchen and Brewery, 1326 9th Ave. San Francisco, CA 94122

Admission: $15 for keepsake glass, 2 SKB drafts, and lots of nanobrews. SKB's food will be available for purchase, too, should you get munchy. (more info)

Join SKB and AllOverBeer.com to try the beers of and toast the brewers looking to quit their day jobs, such as Elizabeth St. Brewery, Van Houten Brewing Co., Local Brewing Co., Pacific Brew Labs, Bosworth Brewery, Beltane Brewing, Petaluma Hills, 510 Brewing, and others.

Thanks to Brians of AllOverBeer.com and www.bayareacraftbeer.com and our friends at Social Kitchen & Brewery for their work!

Find us on twitter at vanhoutenbrewco
Find us on facebook at www.facebook.com/vanhoutenbrewing
Contact us at vanhoutenbrewing(at)gmail(dot)com

Tweaking the Northern English Brown


Made some changes to the Northern English brown ale. I made a few rest adjustments, as per Griz’s suggestions, and I’ve lowered the final gravity into a range more appropriate to the style.

The result is a much more dry flavor and it lets the E Kent Goldings through a little more. I’ve also been oaking half of my batches with oak chips, with good results. The oak adds another layer of flavor and depth. It’s particularly fun to run a glass of oaked and un-oaked ale and taste them side by side.

I’m not sure how authentic the flavor added by the chips is, though I’ll bet it’s close to actual barrel flavor. As it turns out, the chips are gathered from the barrel-making process and are toasted with the barrel in a perforated can. It’s not clear if there is any residual oak sugar still in the chips, as they’ve never been exposed to alcohol before. A little research is in order.

Find us on twitter at vanhoutenbrewco

Find us on facebook at www.facebook.com/vanhoutenbrewing